Editing Cotton (section)

==Competition from synthetic fibers==
The era of manufactured fibers began with the development of [[rayon]] in France in the 1890s. Rayon is derived from a natural cellulose and cannot be considered synthetic, but requires extensive processing in a manufacturing process, and led the less expensive replacement of more naturally derived materials. A succession of new synthetic fibers were introduced by the chemicals industry in the following decades. [[Cellulose acetate|Acetate]] in fiber form was developed in 1924. [[Nylon]], the first fiber synthesized entirely from petrochemicals, was introduced as a sewing thread by DuPont in 1936, followed by DuPont's [[acrylic fiber|acrylic]] in 1944. Some garments were created from fabrics based on these fibers, such as women's [[hosiery]] from nylon, but it was not until the introduction of [[polyester]] into the fiber marketplace in the early 1950s that the market for cotton came under threat.<ref>[http://www.teonline.com/fiber-history.html Fiber History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917085422/http://www.teonline.com/fiber-history.html |date=17 September 2008 }}. Teonline.com. Retrieved on 27 November 2011.</ref> The rapid uptake of polyester garments in the 1960s caused economic hardship in cotton-exporting economies, especially in Central American countries, such as [[Nicaragua]], where cotton production had boomed tenfold between 1950 and 1965 with the advent of cheap chemical pesticides. Cotton production recovered in the 1970s, but crashed to pre-1960 levels in the early 1990s.<ref>Brockett, Charles D. (1998) ''Land, Power, and Poverty: Agrarian Transformation and Political Conflict.'' Westview Press. p. 46. {{ISBN|0-8133-8695-0}}.</ref>